An atheist airman at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada was denied reenlistment last month for refusing to take an oath containing “so help me God,” the American Humanist Association said Thursday.And in a Sept. 2 letter to the inspectors general for the Air Force and Creech, Monica Miller, an attorney with the AHA’s Apignani Humanist Legal Center, said the airman should be allowed to reenlist without having to swear to a deity, and instead given a secular oath. Miller said the AHA is prepared to sue if the airman is not allowed to reenlist.According to the AHA, the unnamed airman was told Aug. 25 that the Air Force would not accept his contract because he had crossed out the phrase “so help me God.” The airman was told his only options were to sign the religious oath section of the contract without adjustment and recite an oath concluding with “so help me God,” or leave the Air Force, the AHA said.That is unconstitutional and unacceptable, the AHA said.“The government cannot compel a nonbeliever to take an oath that affirms the existence of a supreme being,” Miller said. “Numerous cases affirm that atheists have the right to omit theistic language from enlistment or reenlistment contracts.”[...]Air Force Instruction 36-2606 spells out the active-duty oath of enlistment, which all airmen must take when they enlist or reenlist and ends with “so help me God.” The old version of that AFI included an exception: “Note: Airmen may omit the words ‘so help me God,’ if desired for personal reasons.”That language was dropped in an Oct. 30, 2013, update to the AFI. The relevant section of that AFI now only lists the active-duty oath of enlistment, without giving airmen any option to choose not to swear an oath to a deity.“Reciting ‘So help me God’ in the reenlistment and commissioning oaths is a statutory requirement under Title 10 USC 502,” Air Force spokeswoman Rose Richeson said Thursday. AFI 36-2606 “is consistent with the language mandated in 10 USC 502. Paragraph 5.6 [and] was changed in October 2013 to reflect the aforementioned statutory requirement and airmen are no longer authorized to omit the words ‘So help me God.’ ”The Air Force said it cannot change its AFI to make “so help me God” optional unless Congress changes the statute mandating it.
Like I said on B.net, it's really not that big of a deal.
I just skipped that line during my oath of enlistment...
Apparently it's no longer allowed to be skipped.
Holy shit, that is a real thing? Does he have to take it off indoors?
Why can transgender people not serve as well?
They authorized this shit under AR-670-1 but I can't refuse to swear to God in my oath to the constitution?That's fucked up if true.
Ya, if you had a trans* coworker, you would probably be too excited and distracted to accomplish anything. =^.^=
Fucking lolAmazing story Das.
Atheists: Making a big deal out of nothing since 2000! A wise man once said, "Pick your battles".
Not a big deal at all. If you want to serve, you need to make sacrifices.
Why does God have to be involved at all? Just leave him out, and it's fine.
Why shouldn't He be involved?
I'd be willing to bet that most people in the armed forces believe in God.
Don't capitalize that. God doesn't exist and you know it.
US Air Force requires you to swear to God
